Look at your skin. Be crazy and get out the magnifying mirror. Be critical.
How do you assess your skin? What do you look for?
General
Do you look tired with a dull complexion? Acne scarring? Pre skin cancers or skin cancers? Do you want to do things to prevent aging? Do you prefer nonsurgical methods?
Sun Exposure
Do you have sun damage? Sun spots? Age spots? Freckles? Are you fair skinned with light eyes and hair? Do you wear sunscreen daily? Have you had a lot of sun exposure (work outside, golf, tennis, swimming)? Do you have precancers? Scaling patchy red areas? An area that won’t heal?
Rx: Sunscreen, Hydroquinone, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Retin A, Chemical Peel
Pigmentation
Do you have pigment problems? Age spots? Dark patches? Irregularities?
Rx: Hydroquinone, Retin A, Vitamin C and E, Chemical Peel
Fine Lines and Wrinkles
Do you have fine lines? Deep lines? Where are they located?
Rx: Botox, soft tissue fillers, chemical peels, and surgery.
Possibilities:
There are many non-surgical methods to improve your skin. Not only will your skin look better, it will be healthier – reversing some of the sun and aging damage. Skin products with Retin-A®, hydroquinone, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, sunscreen, and exfoliants all improve the quality of your skin. I like products from the Obagi NuDerm line, the Skinceutical Vitamin C lines ( Vitamin C E Feurlic and Phloretin CF), and the zinc sunscreens which give a total mechanical block.
Skin resurfacing with a chemical peel will improve skin quality. I am a fan of the TCA Blue Peel. It works for light and dark skin types (which includes Phillipino, Latino, Indian, and darker skin types). I used to use more lasers, but many are not good for darker skin, they are expensive, and you usually can’t safely go onto the neck and chest. Peels have been around for a long time and are effective “ironing” the skin, reducing pore size, and improving fine wrinkles. For more information go to the page. I do not believe in many of the current lasers out there.
You can also treat fine lines with BOTOX® and soft tissue fillers .
I do not believe in selling you a rainbow. There are things we can make better, and others we can’t fix. There has been much growth of the laser and product industry. I am critical when evaluating these new products. Can they prove to me they work? I think a lot of products are hype, short term improvements, and unproven claims. If you are spending money at a department store on expensive products, I would recommend changing to products from a doctor’s office. Over the counter products cannot have the same strength as those sold from a doctor. Not all products from a doctor are effective. I screen all new products, and make the rep show me the scientific studies to back their claims. For this reason I don’t carry a lot of products, and I don’t carry all products within a line. I cherry pick the ones I think work. As for skin resurfacing, I am skeptical of treatments with “no down time.” I find many of them look better for a short time, with little long term effect.